Propelling and steering apparatus for vessels



July 14, 1925.

L. zwlEsLER PROPELLING AND STEERING APPARATIQ FOR VESSELS 2 Sheets-Sheet1 mfw,

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L. ZWIEfSLER PROPELLING AND STEERING APPARATUS FOR vEssELs line: V 1,

Patented July 14, 1925.

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To all whom t may cmweai: i

Be it lrnownthat'lJlLoUIs ZwIEsLnn, a lcitizen of the United States,lresiding at Kansas City, iny the county of Jackson.- and State ofldissouriJ have invented certain new anduseful Improvements inPropellingand SteeringApparatus for Vessels,-of which the following is aspecication.

'My invention. relates toliinprovements in Y der which may be controlledwith less effort 'than rudders of ytheusual type;

Other objects will hereinafter appear, and in order that the inventionmay be fully understood reference will nowbe had -to the accompanyingdrawings, inr which:

Fig, `1 is a. broken "longitudinal central section of a vesselembodyingYthe improve ments. n

` Fig. 2 is a broken frontV elevation partly in section l.of the ,vesselligf'is an irregular crosssectioii of the vessel on line 1II; I1I ofFig.`1.

Fig. 4, is a'. broken plan view of` part of thevhating and clutchrnechanisngi.Yr f

Fig. 5 is a. broken horizontal sectionV on showing the f rudder andassociate parts.

Referring now in 7det-ailLto` the various which yhas vloweiand,uppervcompartinentsy .fi and 6, respectively.

. rEhelower coinpartmente is provided with fore and aftcylindrical'housings 8` and 10,

respectively, which, in the present instance are arranged in groups ofthree, those inythe rear group being in axial alineinent with those inthe forward group. v'llhexadjacent ends of the housings`8 and 10 karespaced apart to leave an engine or motor room 12 containing in thepresent instance, three motors 14 which are, preferably, of thesynchronous and reversible type.

The forward endsof the housingsS have inlets 16 at the bow of the vesseland outlets 18 at their rear ends for the intake and disfguards 215.trally `disposed shaftft, journaled1--inwbear ings /18 and 50, theformer of` whichwh'asdlJ stuiiingn-boxg52 to preventlwater from leakinginto tbe-inctor ro'ein12 frcin'aroundthe` chargent n water.4:Drift-wood` andA other dbris isY prevented. Vfrom entering theV inletsl=guards20 ftiXed'to the front of the hullf2. The outlets 18 areequipped `.with

guards21,toprevent theientrance of drift-- wood-and` other dbris. whenrotation of the i prcpellers hereinafter described is reversed tebaclcthe vessel.

f Aiflach. housing'S is equipped witlian elongated screw propeller 22havingv a series of convolutions"2aL extendingv arounda central 1 shaft26 jouiiiialed in bearings 28 and29. rthe' bearings 29 are provided withstufiing bcxes 30 to yprevent water from leaking into the motor room` 12from around the shaft 2G. The' end of each shaft'26 which extends intothe inotci' rooni 12 is `providedwith a slidable clutch member 32controlle'dby a llever t-wherebyitinay beshiiftedeinto and out ofengagement with acoinpanion Vclutch ni'eniber iixe'dly mounted upondihe'motor slia'ftig. V l.

:Each rear housing 101lias anr inletil@ at the bottom of the hull l2 andan outlet-42 `at the stern of said hull, and `like each `housing 8 hasan elongated screw propeller.- 44 sirnlilaito the screw propellers 22.vDbrisiis prevented from entering the` ,inlet .40` by "Each propeller44:. has .a cen,-

shaftlle. Each shaftaiis provided at its forward end with clutchmeniber5.1 sl i dably `mountedthereon and controlled by` a lever whereby itniayi be shifted into and out of Aengagenfient with ai companion clutchp member tixcd upon the motor sliaft138. partsT 2 designates the hull 0fthe vessel v vwith a plurality of oppositely disposed The uppercompartment '6 'is `provided cylindricalhousings'60 and 62, four -beiiigemployed in ythe present instance. The housings 60 are arranged in axialalinement vwith thelliousings V62 and have `ports'li at yone side of thehull2 and ports 68rat `the bottom of said hull, as best shown by; Fig.3.

'Drift-wood and other dbris is prevented 8 and 10 are below the waterline and are equipped with propellers 76 and 78, respectively, of thesame type as the other propellers hereinbefore described. Eachoppositely-disposed set of propellers 76 Vand 78 are mounted upon acommon shaft 80 journaled in bearings 82 and 84, the latter havingstuffing-boxes 86 to prevent water from leaking into the compartment 6from around said shaft 80. The shafts 80 are provided intermediate theirends with slidable sleeves 88 equipped at their ends with bevel gears 90and 92, which maybe adjusted to neutral position or caused toalternately engage bevel gears 94 when the sleeves 88 are shiftedthrough the intermediacy of levers 96. The bevel gears 94 are fixedlymounted upon the ends of a drive shaft 98 driven by a suitable motor 99.

lVi'th the propelling mechanism arranger as shown and described it isapparent that when all of the propellers 22 and 44 are in operation thevessel will be forced through the water at maximum speed. It is alsoapparent that said propellers will operate under the most favorableconditions as they are not exposed to theraction ofthe waves whichsubject the ordinary exposed propellers to all kinds of4 stresses. Theoperation of the propellers 22 andl 44 will also'be attended with thegreatestA efcienc'y owing to their large number of convolutions actingon the water passing' through the housings 8 and 10, respectively.Furthermore,

should one ofthe propellers 22 or 44 get out of order it can be readilythrown out of gear with its respective motor 14 through the intermediacyof the intervening clutch mechanism, so that the vessel may proceed onher course.

The propellers 76 and 78 are only vused i in turning the vessel or indocking the same.

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By driving the forward shaft 80 in one direction and the rear shaft 801n a reverse d1- rection, which may 'be accomplished byL i tween twoother vessels, which a vessel guided by its rudder in the usual mannercould not enter or leave.

Referring now to the steering mechanism, f

each of the rear housings 10 is equipped with a rudder 100 mounted upona vertical post 102, which may be turned by any suitable means such as ahandle 104. The post Y.thus render said rudder 100 easy to control. Theforward portionsof the rudders 100 are reduced slightly to lit withinthe rear portions of the respective housings 10, as shown more clearlyby Fig. 1.

The rudder-s 100 are used in steeringthe vessel when on the high seas,at which time the propellers 76 and 7 8 areinactive unless it shouldbecomenecessary to make a sharp turn to avoid another vessel or otherobject.

From theV foregoing description it is apparent that I have providedpropelling and steering mechanisms embodying t-he advantages abovepointed out, and while I have shown and described rthe preferredconstruc-` tion, combination and arrangement of parts I reserve theright to make such changes as properly fall within ythe spirit andscopeof the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and` desire'to secureby Letters Patent,is: ,f

1. lIn a propellingapparatus for vessels a group of parallel-housings inthe forward portion ofthe hull Vand having portsl at their ends, a groupof housings in the rear portion of the hull having ports at theirrespective ends andarranged in alinement ,withV the Vforward group,elongated screwpropellers arranged vwithin the respective housings,driving mechanismjwhereby all'of-the pro- .pellers .may be,ysimultaneously driven, and means whereby any of the vpropellers may bethrown out of gear while the others continue to operate. Y

2. In a propelling and steering apparatus forvessels a housing,arrangedy in the hull andhavingports at its ends, an elongated screwpropeller arrangedwithin said housing and having a Aplurality ofconvolutions, 1a driven shaft uponwhich said. propeller is fixedlymounted, a balanced rudder having its forward endreduced and extendinginto the rear end ofthe housing, and a steering post ,extendingA throughthe intern'iediate portion of said rudder and journaled in the housing;p .c

i In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses. Y n Y LOUIS ZIVIESLER.

VVitnesses: f J p vL. J. FISCHER, Pv F. C. FiscHR. f

